The intent of the present document Towards a Better Distribution
of Land: the Challenge of Agrarian Reform is to increase and quicken
awareness of the dramatic human, social and ethical problems caused by the
phenomenon of the concentration and misappropriation of land. These problems
affect the dignity of millions of persons and deprive the world of the
possibility of peace.

Because such situations are characterized by countless unacceptable
injustices, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is offering this
document for reflection and guidance in answer to a twofold request: that of the
poor themselves and that of their pastors. They have asked that something be
said, with evangelical courage, about the scandalous situations of property and
land use, present on almost all continents.

Drawing its inspiration from the rich patrimony of the social doctrine
of the Church, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace considers it a
pressing duty to remind all, above all those with political and economic
responsibilities, to undertake appropriate agrarian reforms in order to set in
motion a period of growth and development.

There is not a moment to lose. The Great Jubilee of the year 2000,
proclaimed by the Holy Father John Paul II in remembrance of our only Saviour,
Jesus Christ, is a challenging call to conversion, including in the social and
political fields, that will re-establish the right of the poor and marginalized
to enjoy the use of the land and its goods that the Lord has given to all and to
each one of his sons and daughters.

INTRODUCTION

1. The development model of industrialized societies is capable of producing
huge quantities of wealth, but also has serious shortcomings when it comes to
the equitable redistribution of its fruits and the promotion of growth in less
developed areas.

While developed economies are not immune to this contradiction, it reaches
particularly alarming proportions in developing economies.

This can be seen in the persistence of the phenomenon of the
misappropriation and concentration of land  that is that good which, given
the predominantly agricultural nature of the economy of developing countries,
constitutes the fundamental production factor, together with labour, and the
chief source of national wealth.

This state of affairs is often one of the main causes of situations of
hunger and want, and represents a concrete negation of the principle derived
from our common origin and brotherhood in God (cf. Eph 4:6) that all
human beings are born equal in dignity and rights.

2. On the eve of the third millennium of the Christian era, the Holy Father
John Paul II calls the entire Church to "lay greater emphasis on the ...
preferential option for the poor and the outcast," stating that "a
commitment to justice and peace in a world like ours, marked by so many
conflicts and intolerable social and economic inequalities, is a necessary
condition for the preparation and celebration of the Jubilee."(1)

Against this background, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is
issuing the present document in an attempt to confront the dramatic problem of
the misappropriation and concentration of land in latifundia,(2) calling for a
solution and indicating the spirit and objectives that should provide
orientations.

The document briefly presents:

 a description of the process by which the ownership of land becomes
concentrated in latifundia in regions where it is not fairly distributed;

 the principles that should inspire solutions to this highly
problematic issue, based on the message of the Bible and the Church;

 a call for an effective agrarian reform, an indispensable condition
for a future of greater justice.

The document is addressed to those who have the problems of the world of
agriculture and general economic development at heart, especially those in
national and international positions of responsibility. It calls their attention
to problems of land ownership and spurs them to take the necessary increasingly
urgent action. However, it is not a document of political intent, for that lies
outside the Church's field of competence.

3. The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace draws on the requests of
many local Churches that are faced day after day with the problems treated here.

Numerous statements of both individual bishops and conferences of bishops on
the subject of land and its equitable distribution(3) clearly show the Church's
constant concern and attention for these subjects, and its explicit intention of
building society under the gospel sign of justice and peace.

Although these statements may not be explicitly cited, they are constantly
referred to. They constitute an extremely valuable and significant contribution,
and are often expressions of deeply felt Christian witness borne in difficult
and painful situations.

Our intention is to confirm the value of this witness and to encourage such
commitment in the future.

CHAPTER I

PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH THE CONCENTRATION OF LANDHOLDINGS

The Mortgage of the Past in the Present Situation

4. The agrarian structure of developing countries is often characterized by
a two-tier form of distribution, with a small number of large landowners
possessing most of the arable land, while vast numbers of very small owners,
tenants and settlers farm the remaining land, which is often of inferior
quality. Large holdings are still a feature of many such countries' land
systems.(4)

The historical origins of the process of land concentration vary from region
to region. It is particularly relevant to our own reflections to note that, in
areas that came under colonial rule, concentration of land in large holdings
really started to develop in the second half of the nineteenth century, through
gradual private appropriation of the land, favoured by laws which introduced
serious distortions into the land market.(5)

The private appropriation of land not only led to the formation and
consolidation of large holdings, but also had the diametrically opposite effect
of fragmenting small holdings.

In the best of hypotheses, small farmers(6) could acquire a meager piece of
land to work with their families. However, when the family grew, they were
unable to increase their holding, unless they were prepared to move their family
to less fertile and more isolated land which required proportionately more
labour.

This produced the conditions for further fragmentation of the already small
area of land owned and, in any case, further impoverishment of the farmers and
their families.

5. This situation has basically not improved in recent decades and, in many
cases, has steadily deteriorated, despite the fact that daily experience shows
what a negative impact it has on economic growth and social development.(7)

Underlying all is the interaction of a whole series of particularly serious
phenomena, which are very similar in the various countries despite some national
variations.

The approaches to economic development chosen by different developing
countries in past decades have often encouraged the process of concentration of
landholdings. As a rule, this process seems to be the result of economic
measures and structural constraints which cannot be changed overnight and which
have economic, social and environmental costs.

A Critical Assessment of Economic Policy Choices

Industrialization at the Expense of Agriculture

6. Many developing countries have sought to modernize their economies as
quickly as possible by basing themselves for the most part on the often
unjustified belief that rapid industrialization can bring about an improvement
in general economic well-being, even if agriculture suffers in the process.

They have thus adopted policies protecting domestic industrial production
and manipulating the exchange rates of the national currency to the disadvantage
of agriculture, policies of taxing exports of farm produce, and policies
supporting the purchasing power of urban inhabitants, based on the control of
food prices or other forms of intervention that alter the market distribution
mechanism and that have therefore often led to a lowering of exchange rates for
agricultural, as against industrial, production.

The resulting fall in farm income has affected small producers so badly that
many have been forced to give up farming. All this has given added impetus to
the process of concentration of landholdings.

Failures of Agrarian Reform

7. Agrarian reforms intended to ensure a more just division of land
ownership and use have been implemented in many developing countries in recent
decades, but have proved a deep disappointment, except in those few cases where
they have fulfilled their aims.

One of the main errors has been the belief that agrarian reform consists
essentially in the simple distribution and re-allocation of land.

Failure can be laid partly at the door of an erroneous interpretation of the
needs of the agricultural sector as it moves from a subsistence phase to one of
integration with the domestic and international markets, and partly at that of a
lack of professional skill in planning, organizing and managing such reforms.(8)

Basically, efforts at agrarian reform have failed in their various aims of
reducing the concentration of landholdings, of creating farm units capable of
autonomous growth, and of preventing the expulsion of large masses of peasant
farmers from the land and their migration to urban centers or to land that is
still free, but which may be marginal and poor in social infrastructures.

8. In many cases, governments have not paid enough attention to providing
areas subject to agrarian reform with the necessary infrastructures and social
services, to setting up an efficient organization for technical assistance, to
ensuring equitable access to credit at sustainable costs, to curbing distortions
that favour large landholdings, and to fixing prices and forms of the farmers'
payment for land that are compatible with what is needed for its development and
with the living requirements of their families. Small farmers are often forced
into debt. They then have to sell their rights and give up farming.

A second important cause of the failure of agrarian reforms is the scant
attention paid to the history and cultural traditions of agricultural societies,
which has often resulted in a bias in favour of a large-scale landholding system
as against traditional forms of land tenure.

Two more factors have also tended to seriously destabilise the reform
process: firstly, a scandalous series of forms of corruption, political
subservience and collusion, leading to the granting of huge tracts of land to
members of the ruling classes; and secondly, the presence of important foreign
interests, concerned about the effects of any reform on their economic
activities.

The Management of Agricultural Exports

9. In many developing countries, the ways in which agrarian policies have
managed the export of agricultural production have often further encouraged the
process of the concentration of land in the hands of the few.

Price control policies have been adopted for certain products, favouring
large agro-industrial concerns and export growers, but penalizing small growers
producing traditional farm products.(9) Other policies have meant that the whole
infrastructure and service system tends to be run in the interests of large
farmers. In yet other cases, tax policies concerning agriculture have worked to
the profit of certain landowners (individual physical persons or companies),
allowing them to recoup fixed investments in a relatively short time, either by
not envisaging progressive taxes or in some way facilitating tax evasion.
Lastly, certain policies facilitating loans to the agricultural sector have
distorted price relations between land and work.

All this has encouraged a process of accumulation based on investment in
land, with small farmers, who are often on the sidelines of the land market,
being excluded from the process.

The rise in land prices and the fall in the supply of jobs owing to
agricultural mechanization have made access to credit, and hence the acquisition
of land, difficult for small farmers if they are not grouped in associations.

10. The aim of reducing international debt through exports can lead to a
fall in the standard of living of small farmers, who often do not produce export
items.

The lack of a public service of agricultural training prevents such farmers,
who of necessity engage in a predominantly subsistence-style farming using
traditional techniques, from acquiring the necessary technical training for a
correct use of the cultivation techniques required by new products. They are
poorly integrated into the market, and their difficulties in gaining access to
credit curtail their power to purchase the inputs required by new techniques.
Poor knowledge of the market means that they can neither keep abreast of trends
in product prices nor reach the quality required for export.

If the market prompts small farmers to grow export crops, this often takes
place at the expense of production intended mainly for their own consumption,
thus putting farming families at considerable risk. Unfavourable climatic or
market conditions can lead to a vicious circle of hunger, so that such families
contract debts that then force them to give up ownership of their land.

Expropriation of the Land of Indigenous Populations

11. In recent decades, various forms of economic activity based on the use
of natural resources have steadily expanded into land traditionally occupied by
indigenous populations.

In most cases, the rights of the indigenous inhabitants have been ignored
when the expansion of large-scale agricultural concerns, the establishment of
hydroelectric plants and the exploitation of mineral resources, and of oil and
timber in areas of expanding agricultural frontiers have been decided, planned
and implemented.(10)

The law is respected while all this is taking place. However, the property
rights upheld by the law are in conflict with the right of use of the soil
deriving from an occupation and ownership of the land the origins of which are
lost in memory.

In the culture and spirituality of indigenous populations, land is seen as
the basis of every value and as the unifying factor that nourishes their
identity. However, when the first great landholdings were formed, these peoples
lost the legal right to ownership of land on which they had lived for centuries,
which means that they can now be dispossessed without warning whenever the old
or new holders of legal title to the property want to take physical possession,
even if they have shown no interest in it for dozens of years.

Indigenous populations can also run the absurd but very real risk of being
seen as "invaders" of their own land.

The only ways they can avoid expulsion from their own land is by agreeing to
work for the large companies or by emigrating. In any case, they are deprived of
their land and their culture.

Violence and Complicity

12. The history of many rural areas has often been marked by conflict,
social injustice and uncontrolled forms of violence.

The landowning élite and the large companies involved in exploiting
mineral and forest resources have, on many occasions, not hesitated to establish
a climate of terror in order to suppress the protests of workers who are forced
to work at an inhuman pace for wages that often do not cover their travel and
living expenses. Similar tactics have been used in order to overcome conflicts
with small farmers who have been farming State or other land for a long time, or
in order to take possession of land occupied by indigenous populations.

In these conflicts, intimidation and illegal arrests are used, and, in
extreme cases, armed groups are hired to destroy possessions and harvests,
deprive community leaders of power, and eliminate people, including those who
take up the defence of the weak, among whom many Church leaders.

The representatives of the public authorities are often direct accomplices
in such violence. The executors and instigators of the crimes are guaranteed
impunity by weaknesses in the administration of justice and the indifference of
many States to international juridical instruments concerning respect for human
rights.

Institutional and Structural Problems to Be Solved

13. Developing countries can effectively counter the present process under
which land ownership is being concentrated in a few hands if they face up to
certain situations that constitute real structural problems, for example
legislative deficiencies and delays regarding both recognition of land titles
and in relation to the credit market, a lack of concern over agricultural
research and training, and neglect of social services and infrastructures in
rural areas.

Legal Recognition of Ownership Rights

14. In many countries, the inadequate normative framework and the fragile
bases of such administrative institutions as land registers often make it even
harder for small farmers to obtain legal recognition of ownership rights over
land that they have been farming for a long time and of which they are de
facto owners. They are often stripped of their land because it falls by law
into the hands of those whose greater financial means and access to information
enable them to obtain recognition of ownership rights.

Small farmers lose out in every case: uncertainty over ownership of the land
is a major disincentive to investment, increases risks for farmers if they
expand their farms, and reduces the possibility of access to credit for which
land is used as a guarantee. This uncertainty also encourages over-exploitation
of natural resources without concern for environmental sustainability or without
considering the intergenerational continuity of family property.

The Credit Market

15. Traditional regulations governing the credit market help to produce the
effects described above. Small farmers find it very difficult to gain access to
the credit needed to improve production techniques, to expand their holdings and
cope with adversities, because of the role given to land as a guarantee, as well
as the higher costs that small loans entail for credit institutions.(11)

In rural areas, there is often no legal credit market, so that small farmers
have to turn to money-lenders if they need loans, thus exposing themselves to
risks that can lead to the partial or even total loss of their land  for
property speculation is usually the real focus of such moneylenders' operations.
This results in a raking in of smaller properties, swelling both the ranks of
the landless and the size of the holdings of large landowners, richer farmers or
local traders.

Basically, in poor economies, access to long-term credit tends to be
directly proportionate to ownership of production inputs, particularly land, and
therefore to be the exclusive prerogative of major landowners.

Agricultural Research and Training

16. Other major deficiencies concern agricultural research and training,(12)
that is the study and development of new and appropriate production techniques
for different situations, and extension work to inform farmers of the existence
of such techniques and how to use them to best advantage.

In many developing countries, there is very often little financial
commitment to setting up research structures and centres, so that those in
charge of training are ill-prepared for their task.

This creates conditions for two closely linked phenomena of particular
economic and social importance:

 the spread of techniques that are the fruit of private research and
development activities which focus on large-scale concerns for market reasons;

 insufficient attention to the compatibility of new techniques with
local farming features, and especially with local socio-economic conditions. In
such cases, there is a major danger that the spread of such new techniques will
have negative effects on the standard of living of small farmers and the very
survival of their farms.

The Lack of Infrastructures and Social Services

17. Neglect of the infrastructures and social services so indispensable in
rural areas is having very marked effects.

The serious deficiencies in both quantity and quality in the school system
in these areas mean that young people do not receive the tools for developing
their personal potential and becoming aware of their dignity as human beings and
their rights and duties.

Similarly, the scarcity and poor quality of health services is often
translated into what amounts to a denial of the right to health for the rural
poor, with all the inevitable consequences for their lives.

Apart from making access to the other social services difficult,
deficiencies in transport systems tend to reduce considerably the profitability
of farming for small farmers. The lack or poor maintenance of roads and the
scarcity of public transportation increase the cost of inputs, thus reducing any
incentive to improve production techniques.

The most serious effect of deficiencies in the various infrastructures is
that small farmers are forced to depend on local markets to sell their produce.
These markets are not in a condition to provide the necessary information to
ensure that the quality of production meets the requirements of demand. They are
also dominated by traders whose monopolistic position means that farmers are
forced to accept the price offered if they want to sell their produce.

Consequences of Economic Policies Concerning Land Tenure

Economic Consequences

18. Imbalances in the division of land ownership and the policies giving
rise to and sustaining them are the source of serious obstacles to economic
development.

Such imbalances and policies can have economic consequences which affect the
majority of the population. At least five of these can be listed:

a) distortions in the land market: political interventions in the
market often directly or indirectly favour large landholdings through indirect
subsidies, advantageous taxation and credit facilities. Such advantages lead to
further investment in land, and hence a rise in its price. As a result, small
farmers see their purchasing power for land eroded, and hence their possibility
of improving the efficiency and equity of the land market through normal trading
operations;

b) a reduction in the country's overall agricultural production: in
countries with a less developed agricultural economy, there is usually an
inverse relation between farm-size and productivity. The production per
land-unit of small landowners is higher than that of large landowners. The
production of the large landowners, who own the greater part of the land, is
less, with the consequent reduction of the overall agricultural production of
the country;

c) the pegging of farm wages at low levels: this pegging is a result
of the simultaneous rise in supply and fall in demand for farm labour and of the
absence of conditions that would allow workers to negotiate their terms of
employment on a collective or individual basis;

d) the lower profitability of small farms: when the profitability of
small farms is reduced, this makes the investments necessary for their
development difficult, thus creating a vicious circle;

e) the draining of savings accumulated in the agricultural sector,
which are not used productively for investment in infrastructures and technology
useful to agriculture, but are taken out and used for consumption or in other
sectors of the economy.

Social and Political Consequences

19. The social consequences are heavy and high. The agricultural sector is
enmeshed in a process that increases and spreads poverty.(13) Whenever this
process has the upper hand and there is no social security or old-age pension,
parents see children as a guarantee for their own future. Increases in
population levels are therefore very high, while education and health needs are
inadequately met.

The traditional balance in the distribution of population is upset in rural
communities by processes of destructuration, which cause a migratory movement to
the outskirts of the large cities, which are increasingly becoming megacities,
and where social conflict, violence and criminality are growing worse.

Constant pressure is put on indigenous populations in an effort to force
them off their land. They have to look on as their economic, social, political
and cultural institutions disintegrate and the environmental balance of their
land is destroyed.

20. For many countries, even those rich in land and natural resources,
hunger and malnutrition still constitute the main problem.(14) Today, hunger is
a growing phenomenon, caused not only by famine, but also by political choices
that do not improve families' capacities to gain access to resources. Defence of
the privileges of a minority often hinders or in fact prevents  albeit not
legally  the development of agricultural production. While the use of land
for export production reduces food costs in countries with developed economies,
it can have very negative effects on most of the families who live from farming.
No thinking mind or conscience can countenance this paradoxical situation.

As economic and social problems mount up, political problems become ever
more complex, causing instability and conflict, which in turn curb democratic
development. All this works to the detriment of agriculture and represents a
major obstacle for any programme of economic growth.

Environmental Consequences

21. Lastly, inequalities in the distribution of land ownership set in motion
a process of environmental degradation that is hard to reverse.(15) Soil
degradation and reduced soil fertility, high risks of flooding, lowering of
water-tables, siltation of rivers and lakes, and other environmental problems
also contribute to this process.

Deforestation of large areas is often encouraged with tax and credit
facilities in order to make way for forms of extensive ranching or mining
activities or to exploit the resulting timber, but plans for environmental
rehabilitation are either non-existent or not implemented.

Poverty is also linked to environmental degradation in a vicious circle when
small farmers suffer expropriation by major landowners and the landless poor are
forced to search for new land, therefore occupying structurally fragile areas
such as slopes, and further eroding the forest heritage in order to clear a
space to farm.

CHAPTER II

THE MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE AND THE CHURCH ON OWNERSHIP OF
LAND AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

The Message of the Bible

The Care of Creation

22. The first page of the Bible tells of the creation of the world and of
the human person: "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he created them" (Gen 1:27). Solemn
words describe the task that God entrusts to them: "Be fruitful and
multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of
the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves
upon the earth" (Gen 1:28).

The first task that God gives them  clearly a fundamental one 
concerns the attitude that they should have toward the earth and all creatures.
"Subdue" and "have dominion" are two easily misunderstood
concepts and can, in fact, seem to justify the type of despotic and unbridled
domination that takes no care of the earth and its fruit, but despoils it for
personal advantage. However, in biblical language, they are used to describe the
rule of a wise king who cares for the well-being of all of his subjects.

Man and woman must care for creation, so that it will serve them and remain
at the disposition of all, not just a few.

23. The underlying nature of creation is that of being a gift of God, a gift
for all, and God wants it to remain so. God's first command is therefore to
preserve the earth in its nature as gift and blessing, not to transform it into
an instrument of power or motive for division.

The right and duty of the human being to have dominion over the earth is
derived from being the image of God: all, and not just a few, are responsibile
for creation. In Egypt and Babylonia, this prerogative was attributed to a few,
whereas in the biblical text, dominion belongs to the human person as such, and
hence to all. Indeed, it is humanity in its entirety which must shoulder
responsibility for creation.

Man is placed in the garden to till it and keep it (cf. Gen 2:15),
so that he can nourish himself of its fruit. In Egypt and Babylonia, work was a
harsh necessity imposed on men for the benefit of the gods  which in fact
meant the benefit of the king, officials, priests and major property-owners 
whereas in the biblical account, work is for the realization of the person.

The Earth Is God's and He Gives It to All His Children

24. Israelites had the right to ownership of the earth, which the law
protected in many ways. The Ten Commandments state: "You shall not desire
your neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his
ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbour's" (Deut 5:21).

It can be said that an Israelite felt truly free and fully Israelite only
when he had his own plot of land. However, the Old Testament insists that the
earth is God's and that God has given it as a heritage to all the children of
Israel. It is therefore to be shared among all the tribes, clans and families.
Man is not the true master of his land, but rather an administrator. God is the
true master. Thus the book of Leviticus states: "The land shall not be sold
in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with
me" (25:23).

In Egypt, the land belonged to the Pharaoh, with the peasants as his
servants and property, while in Babylonia there was a feudal structure, with the
king granting land in exchange for fidelity and services. Things were very
different in Israel: the earth is God's, and God gives it to all his children.

25. This has some specific consequences. On the one hand, nobody has the
right to deprive the person who has the use of land of its possession, for this
would violate a divine right, and even the king cannot do that.(16) On the other
hand, any form of absolute and arbitrary possession exclusively for one's own
advantage is forbidden: we cannot do whatever we want with the goods that God
has given to all.

It is on this basis that, as need arises  always under the pressure of
some specific situation  the law introduces numerous limitations to the
right of ownership, for example the ban on picking the fruit of a tree during
its first four years (cf. Lev 19:23-25), the call not to reap right to
the edges of the field, and the prohibition on gathering up fruit and ears that
have been forgotten or fallen on the ground, since they belong to the poor (cf.
Lev 19:9-10; 23:22; Deut 24:19-22).

This view of property explains the severity of the Bible's moral judgment on
the abuses of the rich who force the poor and small farmers to give up their
family holdings. The Prophets are particularly energetic in their condemnation
of such abuses: "Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to
field" cries Isaiah (5:8), while his contemporary Micah says: "They
covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man
and his house, a man and his inheritance" (2:2).

The Jubilee Perspective of Freedom

26. The parallel efforts to bind the ownership of land to its possessor in
perpetuity and also to distribute land equitably among all the families of
Israel gave rise to one of the most striking social institutions of that people:
the Jubilee (cf. Lev 25).(17) This institution translates God's lordship
directly onto the social and economic planes, and seeks to affirm or defend
three types of freedom.

The first freedom concerns fields and houses, which must return to their
original owners in a Jubilee year. Fields and houses can be sold, but this sale
is simply a transfer of rights of use and does not affect the right to the
property of the owner (or a relative) who can redeem it at any time. In any
case, such transferred properties return to the original families every fifty
years.

The second freedom concerns people who must return free to their families
and properties in a Jubilee year.

The third freedom concerns the land, which must be allowed to rest for a
year during Jubilee and sabbatical years.

The basis for these three freedoms is particularly interesting: "...
for I am the Lord your God" (Lev 25:17) and "... the land is
mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with me" (25:23). The underlying
reason is thus God's lordship, a lordship seen in the gift to men: "I
am the Lord your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt to give you
the land of Canaan, and to be your God" (25:38).

Ownership of Land in the Social Teaching of the Church

27. Continuing on the path indicated by Sacred Scripture, the Church has
developed its social doctrine over the centuries, issuing authoritative and
fundamental documents illustrating its fundamental criteria for judgment and
discernment, as well as orientations and instructions to guide choices.

In the social teaching of the Church, the process of the concentration of
landholdings is judged a scandal because it clearly goes against God's will and
salvific plan, inasmuch as it deprives a large part of humanity of the benefit
of the fruits of the earth.

Perverse inequalities in the distribution of common goods and in each
person's opportunities for development, as well as the dehumanizing imbalances
in individual and collective relationships brought about by such a
concentration, are the cause of conflicts that undermine the very life of
society, leading to the break-up of the social fabric and the degradation of the
natural environment.

The Universal Destination of Goods and Private Property

28. The effects of the present disordered situation confirm the need for all
of human society to be constantly reminded of the principles of justice,
especially that of the universal destination of goods.

As regards property, the social teaching of the Church bases the ethics of
the relationship between the human person and the goods of the earth on the
biblical view of the earth as God's gift to all human beings: "God destined
the earth and all it contains for all men and all peoples so that all created
things would be shared fairly by all mankind under the guidance of justice
tempered by charity .... We must never lose sight of this universal destination
of earthly goods."(18)

The right to the use of earthly goods is a natural and primary right with
universal application, referring to every human being. It cannot be overridden
by any other economic right,(19) but must be upheld and implemented through laws
and institutions.

29. While the social teaching of the Church affirms the need to ensure that
all persons always and in every circumstance enjoy the goods of the earth, it
also upholds the natural right to individual appropriation of these goods.(20)

All persons can put the goods of the earth that have been placed at their
service to good use, making them bear fruit and hence affirming themselves, if
they are in a position to have free use of these goods, having acquired their
ownership.(21)

Such ownership is a condition and protection of freedom and the
presupposition and guarantee of human dignity. "Private property or some
form of ownership of external goods assures a person a highly necessary sphere
for the exercise of his personal and family autonomy and ought to be considered
as an extension of human freedom. Lastly, in stimulating exercise of
responsibility, it constitutes one of the conditions for civil liberty."(22)

As history and experience show, if the right to private ownership of goods 
including productive goods  is not recognized, this leads to a
concentration of power, bureaucratization of the various sectors of society's
life, social discontent, and the suppression or stifling of "the
fundamental manifestations of freedom."(23)

30. The right to private property is not, however, unconditional, according
to the magisterium of the Church, but entails some very precise obligations.

Whatever concrete forms private property may take as a result of varying
institutional and juridical approaches, it is basically an instrument to
implement the principle of the universal destination of material goods, and
hence a means and not an end.(24)

The right to private property, which is of itself valid and necessary, must
be circumscribed within the limits of the fundamental social function of
property. Every owner must, therefore, always bear in mind the social
mortgage on private property: "In his use of things man should regard
the external goods he legitimately owns not merely as exclusive to himself but
common to others also, in the sense that they can benefit others as well as
himself."(25)

31. The social function directly and naturally inherent in goods and their
destination means that the social teaching of the Church can state: "When a
person is in extreme necessity he has the right to supply himself with what he
needs out of the riches of others."(26) The right of every person to the
use of the goods needed in order to live sets a limit on the right of private
property.

This doctrine was expounded by St Thomas Aquinas,(27) and it helps in
evaluating some complex situations of major socio-ethical importance, such as
the expulsion of peasant farmers from land they have been farming, without
guaranteeing their right to receive a portion necessary to sustain life; or,
again, cases of occupation of uncultivated land on the part of peasant farmers
who are not its owners and who live in conditions of dire poverty.

Condemnation of Latifundia

32. The social teaching of the Church takes the principle of the
subordination of private property to the universal destination of goods as its
basis in analyzing the exercise of the right to ownership of the earth as
productive land, and in condemning latifundia as intrinsically illegitimate.

Such large landholdings are often poorly cultivated, or simply left
uncultivated for speculation, while agricultural production should, in fact, be
increased in order to satisfy the growing food needs of the majority of the
population who have too little or no land to farm.

In the social teaching of the Church, such latifundia go against the
principle that "the world is given to all, and not only to the rich,"
so that "no one is justified in keeping for his exclusive use what he does
not need, when others lack necessities."(28)

Latifundia deprive a vast number of people of the right to take part in the
process of production through their own labour and to take care of their own
needs, and those of their families, the community and nation to which they
belong.(29)

The privileges ensured to latifundia give rise to scandalous inequalities
and situations of dependence and oppression on both national and international
levels.

33. The social teaching of the Church also condemns the intolerable
injustices caused by the misappropriation of land by large landholders or
national or international companies, at times with the support of State
institutions, which trample every acquired right  sometimes even legal
title to possession  in order to deprive small farmers and indigenous
populations of their land.

These are particularly serious forms of misappropriation, because they not
only increase inequalities in the distribution of the goods of the earth, but
usually lead to the destruction of a part of these same goods, impoverishing the
whole of humanity. They bring about ways of exploiting the land that upset
balances between the human person and the environment that have been built up
over centuries, thus causing major environmental degradation.

This should be seen as a sign of man's disobedience to God's command to act
as guardian and wise administrator of creation (cf. Gen 2:15; Wis
9:2-3). Such sinful disobedience has a very high price, for it causes a
particularly shameful lack of human solidarity, striking the weakest and future
generations.(30) is no longer under man's control, thus creating an environment
for tomorrow which may well be intolerable. This is a wide-ranging social
problem which concerns the entire human family": Paul VI, Apostolic Letter
Octogesima Adveniens, 1971, no. 21. Rather, man has to work, knowing
that "he is the heir to the work of generations and at the same time a
sharer in building the future of those who will come after him in the succession
of history": John Paul II, Laborem Exercens, no. 16.]

34. The social teaching of the Church condemns not only latifundia and
misappropriation of land as contrary to the principle that earthly goods are
meant for everyone, but also various forms of exploitation of human labour,
especially when it is rewarded with wages or other forms of payment that are
unworthy of human dignity.

Unjust remuneration for work performed and other forms of exploitation deny
workers the "practical means whereby the vast majority of people can have
access to those goods which are intended for common use: both the goods of
nature and manufactured goods."(31)

Agrarian Reform: Guidelines

Implementing an Effective, Equitable and Efficient Agrarian Reform

35. It often happens that policies intended to promote a proper use of the
right to private ownership of land are unable to prevent its continued use in
vast areas as an absolute right without any limitations coming from the
corresponding social obligations.

The social teaching of the Church is very clear on this point, stating that
agrarian reform is one of the most urgent reforms and cannot be delayed: "In
many situations radical and urgent changes are therefore needed in order to
restore to agriculture  and to rural people  their just value as the
basis for a healthy economy, within the social community's development as a
whole."(32)

John Paul II launched a particularly dramatic appeal to members of the
government and large landowners in Oaxaca, Mexico: "...leaders of the
people, powerful classes which sometimes keep unproductive lands that hide the
bread that so many families lack, human conscience, the conscience of peoples,
the cry of the destitute, and above all, the voice of God, the voice of the
Church, repeat to you with me: It is not just, it is not human, it is not
Christian to continue with certain situations that are clearly unjust. It is
necessary to carry out real, effective measures  at the local, national
and international levels  along the broad line marked by the encyclical
Mater et Magistra (Part three). It is clear that those who must
collaborate most in this, are those who can do the most."(33)

36. The social teaching of the Church repeats several times that the
greatest possible realisation of agricultural productive potential must be
guaranteed where a high percentage of the population is dependent on work on the
land. When large landholdings are insufficiently used, this justifies
expropriation of land  with adequate compensation to the owners(34) 
so that it can be allocated to those who have none or not enough.(35)

However, it must be emphasized that according to the social teaching,
agrarian reform cannot be confined simply to redistribution of the ownership of
land.

Expropriation of land and its redistribution are only one aspect  and
not the most complex one  of an equitable and effective policy of agrarian
reform.(36)

Promoting a Wider Distribution of Private Propert

37. The social teaching of the Church sees agrarian reform as an instrument
capable of extending private ownership of land as long as public authorities
follow three distinct but complementary lines of action:

a) in juridical terms, in order to ensure the adoption of laws to
uphold and protect the effective distribution of private property;(37)

b) in terms of economic policies, in order to facilitate "an
increased distribution of private ownership and of durable consumer goods, of
homes, of farms, of one's own equipment in artisan enterprises and farms of
family size, of shares in middle-size and large firms";(38)

c) in terms of tax policies, in order to ensure continuity of
ownership of material goods within the context of the family.(39)

Promoting Development of Family-Sized Farms

38. The social teaching of the Church condemns both latifundia as the
expression of a socially irresponsible use of the right to property and as a
serious obstacle to social mobility, and also State ownership of land as leading
to a depersonalization of civil society. While it is aware that "it is not
possible to determine a priori what the structure of farm life should
be,"(40) it suggests that family-owned and farmed enterprises should be
actively promoted.(41)

Farm units of the size intended here use family labour for the most part,
but can tap into the external labour market by taking on paid workers.

Such farms should be large enough to allow the family sufficient earning, to
retain possession of the farm, to have access to the land credit market, and to
ensure sustainability of the rural environment also through appropriate use of
inputs.

The efficiency of its management and the social wealth thus produced mean
that such a farm can create new opportunities for work and the human growth of
all.

It can make a very positive contribution not only to development of an
efficient agrarian structure, but also to the implementation of the very
principle that material goods should be used for all.

Respect for the Community Property of Indigenous Populations

39. The social teaching of the Church does not consider individual property
the only legitimate form of land ownership, but also holds common property,
which is a feature of the social structure of many indigenous populations, in
particular consideration.

This form of ownership plays such an important part in the economic,
cultural and political life of these peoples that it constitutes a fundamental
element for their survival and well-being, while making an equally basic
contribution to the protection of natural resources.(42)

Defence and development of community ownership ought not to blind us to the
fact that this type of ownership is bound to change. Any action aimed purely at
guaranteeing its preservation would run the risk of binding it to the past and
thus destroying it.(43)

Following a Just Labour Policy

40. Protection of the human rights which derive from labour is another
fundamental line of action offered by the social teaching of the Church in order
to ensure a correct exercise of the right to private ownership of land. The
close links between work and property mean that the former represents a crucial
instrument for ensuring that material goods are used for all.

Public authorities therefore have the duty(44) of acting to ensure that
these rights are respected and fulfilled, following three basic lines of action:

a) promotion of conditions that ensure the right to work;(45)

b) guarantee of the right to just remuneration for work;(46)

c) protection and promotion of workers' rights to form
associations in order to safeguard their rights;(47) the right of
association is a necessary condition for achieving a balance in bargaining power
between workers and employers, and hence for guaranteeing the development of a
correct dialectic between the social parties.

Establishing an Educational System Capable of Bringing about the
People's Effective Cultural and Professional Growth

41. The increasingly decisive factor in gaining access to the goods of the
earth is no longer possession of land, but possession of the whole complex of
know-how that people can accumulate. John Paul II has stated: "In our time,
in particular, there exists another form of ownership which is becoming no less
important than land: the possession of know-how, technology and skill."(48)

The more farmers know about the productive capacities of the land and other
inputs, and the various possible ways of satisfying the needs of those for whom
the fruit of their work is intended, the more fruitful this work will be,
especially as a means of personal fulfillment through the use of their own
intelligence and freedom.

Priority must therefore be given to setting up a system capable of providing
the broadest possible range of knowledge and technical and scientific skills on
the various educational levels.

CHAPTER III

AGRARIAN REFORM: AN INSTRUMENT FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Agrarian Reform: A Necessary Instrument ...

42. An agricultural structure marked by the misappropriation and
concentration of land in latifundia acts as a major obstacle to a country's
economic and social development. In the short term, it inhibits growth of
agricultural production and employment, while in the long term, it causes
poverty and waste, which tend to be self-perpetuating and to increase.

In the face of such a situation, if the economy and society are to develop
harmoniously, a major focus of concern should be an agricultural reform that
ensures a different land distribution.

The quality and success of development programmes draw substantial benefits,
in fact, from the mobility of a country's internal resources and their
distribution among the various sectors and social groupings. This is the aim of
an agrarian reform that ensures access to land, its efficient use and increased
employment.

43. It is increasingly clear that an agrarian reform of this type is a
vital, necessary and imperative element of development policy.

A developing agriculture raises farmers' incomes, increases the demand for
the goods and services produced by industry and the service sector, and also
strengthens the purchasing power of those living in rural areas but not engaged
in agriculture.

An important effect of this development is that it stems the migratory push
to the cities and the movement of the work force towards other sectors with the
consequent effects on urbanization and the level of salaries.

Increased agricultural productivity would guarantee food security for the
population and favour growth in both the quality and quantity of foodstuffs
through accessible prices.

Experience has also shown that a growth in agriculture leads to an expansion
in the industrial and service sectors, and hence to overall economic growth.

Lastly, it should be noted that an agrarian reform which creates
family-sized farms contributes considerably to strengthening the family by
developing its members' capacities and sense of responsibility.

44. In situations of injustice and poverty, agrarian reform is not only an
instrument of distributive justice and economic growth, but is also an act of
great political wisdom.

It represents the only truly effective and possible response  that of
the law  to the problem of land occupation. Such occupation is a complex
and varied phenomenon, but even when situations of dire need provoke it,(49) it
is always an act contrary to the values and rules of a truly civil social
organisation. The climate of collective emotion generated can easily lead to a
series of actions and reactions that can get out of hand, while the various
forms of instrumentalisation which can so easily occur have very little to do
with the issue of land.

Land occupation is often an expression of an intolerable and morally
indefensible state of affairs, and is an alarm bell calling for the
implementation of effective and equitable solutions on the social and political
level. Governments have a special responsibility here, for their will and
determination must ensure that no time is lost in providing these solutions.
Delays in, or the postponing of, agrarian reform deprive their condemnation and
repression of land occupation of any credibility.

... but a Particularly Complex and Delicate Instrument

45. The benefits of such a reform will not be forthcoming, however, unless
its programmes are correctly formulated. Their success must not be compromised
by the error of thinking that agrarian reform refers simply to expropriation of
large landholdings, their division into productive units compatible with the
working capacity of individual families, and distribution of this land to those
who have been accorded title to it.

An agrarian reform programme must certainly have short-term objectives so
that it can have immediate results, given the serious nature of the social
problems involved. It must therefore ensure that access to land fully meets
these objectives. In the medium and long term, however, if agrarian reform is
confined simply to land redistribution, the struggle against poverty and
under-development will not be won.

The commitment to ensuring access to land constitutes merely the first part
of the programme if agrarian reform is to offer a practical and sustainable
response to the serious economic and social problems of the agricultural sector
in developing countries. The programme must continue to be developed over time
and encompass actions that will ensure access both to the inputs and
infrastructures that allow for a steady improvement in agricultural productivity
and the marketing of such produce, as well as the enjoyment of the social
services that improve people's quality of life and capacity for
self-development, and consequently respect for indigenous populations. A final
factor indispensable for the success of an agrarian reform is that it should be
in full accord with national policies and those of international bodies.

An Adequate Offer of Appropriate Technology and Rural
Infrastructures

46. Research is an essential component of any truly effective and efficient
agrarian reform, since it allows for the pursuit of three essential aims: the
supply of appropriate technology, growth of production and protection of the
environment. Today, there is no longer need for any conflict between the use of
techniques suited to small farms, the requirement of the latter to intensify
production and the need to conserve natural resources. There is now a whole
series of concrete examples demonstrating that relatively simple but innovative
techniques are generally the most efficient, not only in increasing the
productivity of soil and labour, but also in terms of their environmental
compatibility.

Such examples also show that efficiency and compatibility are fairly closely
linked to innovations in tilling methods and soil use, which tend to be strongly
conditioned by the specific physical environment and local economy.

Research and experimental activities make it possible to determine the
precise innovations to be adopted in each individual case.

47. Technical assistance is equally essential for an effective reform. Such
a service represents the necessary complement to research and experimental
activities, for the results of the latter cannot be introduced into everyday
practice unless farmers are informed of their existence and convinced of their
effectiveness.

On-going information and educational activities are therefore needed in
order to provide farmers with sufficient professional know-how to meet the
demands of agrarian reform.

A technical assistance service is especially vital in order to teach farmers
how to join forces and face the market together, for this is the only approach
that can give them effective market power and provide informed guidance for
their production choices.

48. Agrarian reform programmes must also budget for the development of rural
infrastructures, a third focus of action, and one decisive for the success of
any reform.

A developing agriculture brings about a constant increase in demands for
energy, roads, telecommunications and irrigation water. The offer of such
services must be adapted to the demand.

After setting up the necessary infrastructures, attention must also be paid
to their correct management. Especially in the case of irrigation water, there
is often the problem of reorganizing users and of adopting mechanisms to ensure
a correct distribution of this resource so as to avoid misuse.

Removal of Obstacles Preventing Access to Credit

49. Concrete access to legal credit is another issue to be met and solved by
agrarian reform programmes. Those who have received land must be guaranteed the
possibility of obtaining modern inputs at reasonable prices.

The beneficiaries of land redistribution do not usually have sufficient
savings to purchase such inputs, and therefore have to resort to loans. However,
the high administrative cost of loans to small borrowers means that credit
institutions are reluctant to grant them. The only alternative for such farmers
is, therefore, recourse to the informal credit sector, with all the costs and
risks entailed. With a view to avoiding such risks, initiatives that promote the
establishment of local co-operative banks should be encouraged.

Programmes for an effective agrarian reform need to include support for the
credit demands of the new farm units born of the reform. Steps should be
envisaged that encourage the offer of complementary forms of guarantee and
reduce the handling costs of credit operations.

Credit must be facilitated and encouraged for the various forms of
association of the ventures born of the reform in view of the joint management
of production services, joint purchase of inputs and joint marketing of produce.

Investment in Public Services and Infrastructures

50. Alongside the establishment of services and infrastructures of direct
interest for farm production, agrarian reform programmes must also envisage
large-scale investment in health, education, public transportation and the
supply of drinking-water.

In the rural areas of poor countries, these social services and
infrastructures are seriously deficient in both quantity and quality. Their
development prospects are poor owing to the fact that the population of these
areas has little ability to influence political choices and that a major part of
the costs would have to be met either directly or indirectly  in other
words, through some kind of taxation  by large landowners.

These services are fundamental for a modern way of life, and are also an
indispensable component and factor in the growth of material well-being. They
are therefore a key factor in sustainable development.

Their utility is not confined to farmers and their families, but benefits
the entire population by creating the conditions for a differentiation in
production activities, a growth in overall locallyproduced income, and a
consequent stemming of the rural exodus.

The dependable provision of these services is therefore a necessary
condition for the battle against rural poverty and for containing the economic
and social costs of urbanization. In the context of agrarian reform, every
effort must therefore be made to ensure that public services and infrastructures
of public utility in the rural areas are as accessible, available, acceptable
and economic as possible.

This applies particularly to health: access to basic health structures and
hospitals, widespread health education and availability of simple, inexpensive
remedies are vital in order to reduce mortality and morbidity.

51. With regard to services, maximum priority must be given to steps aimed
at guaranteeing equal access to elementary schooling and the extension of
education to secondary and higher levels for both young men and women.

Under such conditions, education and professional training would not only
offer each individual the means for maximum development of his or her own
potential, but also become determining factors in bringing about the change in
attitudes and behaviour needed to face the complexity of the modern-day world
without excessive costs. The idea that education is a purely consumer expense
and not a social investment would thus be overcome.

Special Concern for Women's Role

52. Policies intended to facilitate access to modern technology and public
services must pay special attention to the crucial position of women in farm
production and the food economies of developing countries.

While there are considerable variations from place to place, women in these
countries supply over half the labour used in agriculture. Moreover, full
responsibility for producing the food needed to support the family usually falls
on their shoulders.(50)

Despite this, they are widely marginalised by severe forms of economic and
social injustice. Even agrarian reform programmes consider women in terms of
their domestic work and not as agents of productive action. Laws favour men in
conferring the right to land ownership, and the educational system tends to
emphasize boys' training rather than that of girls.

In view of this situation, if agrarian reform programmes are to be
successful, it is vital to ensure women of an effective right to land, with
concrete attention to their needs on the part of technical assistance services,
fuller and better schooling and easier access to credit. This will improve the
quality of their work, reduce their vulnerability to changes in technology, in
the economy and in society, and increase alternative opportunities for
employment.(51)

Practical Support for Concerted Action

53. Agrarian reform programmes must pay close attention to the decisive role
of concerted action in the launching and development of the farm units created
by redistribution of land.

These farms are faced with complex problems, especially as concerns
marketing. The fact that large numbers of people fulfill the necessary
conditions to aspire to the allocation of land means that the vast majority of
the units will be too small to allow the profitable use of certain techniques,
for example those that make tilling less burdensome. Such farms also find it
hard to obtain the main inputs needed, because there is often no local outlet,
and when such items are available, they are very expensive. However,
their worst problems are related to the marketing of their produce. In most
cases, sales are controlled by a few local traders, or are in fact impossible 
as is the case with new products, especially those intended for processing 
because there is no on-the-spot demand.

54. In such a situation, co-operation is an instrument of solidarity capable
of offering effective solutions. Depending on needs, its various forms 
service, purchasing, processing and marketing co-operatives  allow a
fuller use of machinery and an effective concentration of the demand for inputs
and the supply of produce to the market. This in turn gives rise to small-scale
economies and forms of market power that make the associated farms more
competitive and can also open up new outlets for their produce.

Co-operation represents a precious instrument to allow both private and
co-operative enterprises born of the reform to change the composition of their
own production, and in particular to produce items for export without harming
the local economy.

It is also very necessary for any agrarian reform to include the promotion
and support for the establishment of local co-operative banks intended to grant
loans to low-income families and women in order to support farming, craft
activities and even consumption. Considerable experience shows that such
small-scale banks can be an effective instrument in strengthening the new
enterprises and in the struggle against poverty.

Respect for the Rights of Indigenous Populations

55. Agrarian reform not only helps to solve the problem of latifundia, but
is also very valuable in supporting policies which ensure that the rights of
indigenous populations are recognized and respected.

The very close relationship between land and the models of culture,
development and spirituality of these populations means that agrarian reform is
a decisive component of the systematic and co-ordinated plan of action that
governments must draw up in order to protect the rights of indigenous
populations and guarantee respect for their specific identity.

An agrarian reform must allow for the identification of equitable and
rational ways of dealing with the problem of restoring land traditionally
occupied by indigenous populations to them, especially that taken away through
various forms of violence or discrimination, sometimes very recently. In this
case, the reform has to lay down criteria for recognizing the lands they
occupied and exactly how their use is to be restored to them, guaranteeing
effective protection for their rights of ownership and possession.

The reform must ensure their access to production and social services, thus
giving them the means for pursuing the development of their land and benefitting
from treatment equal to that received by other sectors of the population.

In a word, the agrarian reform must help indigenous communities in various
ways: to protect and reconstruct the natural resources and ecosystems on which
their survival and well-being depend; to preserve and develop their identity,
culture and interests; to uphold their aspirations for social justice; and to
ensure an environment that allows for active participation in the social,
economic and political life of the country.

56. Two conditions must be respected if agrarian reform programmes are to
fulfil all these aims.

a) Adequate attention must be paid to the necessary but delicate
balance between the need for the preservation of common ownership and that of
land privatization. Traditional systems of land possession based on common
ownership  a form of ownership unsuited to the use of modern inputs and
technological innovation  tend gradually to shift to individual ownership
as agriculture develops. There are valid reasons to expect a policy of
individual assignment of land ownership to develop also in the case of
indigenous peoples.(52)

b) The communities concerned must participate and co-operate in
drawing up and implementing reform programmes. Agrarian reform must, on the one
hand, guarantee indigenous communities access to productive and social services
that they judge suited to their social organization and their view of
environmental issues, and, on the other hand, provide a fresh orientation for
economic and social factors that can otherwise be drawbacks.

The Institutional Commitment of the State

57. A major commitment is required of the State, for the reform entails
changes in the bodies, institutions and regulations that often form the basis of
a nation's political, economic and social organization. In most cases, this
commitment is realised with the development of four main lines of action on the
institutional level:

a) completion and updating of the juridical framework governing
property rights and possession and use of land, taking particular care to
provide support and stability to the family as the subject of rights and duties;

b) definition of policies and laws to protect fundamental human
rights, and hence to guarantee the right of workers freely to negotiate their
employment conditions both individually and collectively;

c) implementation of a process of administrative decentralization
that will allow and promote active participation of local communities in the
planning, implementation, financial management, supervision and evaluation of
programmes regarding population, development and territory that concern them;

d) adoption of macro-economic policies which respect the principle
that farmers' rights to enjoy the fruits of their labour are just as important
as consumers' rights, especially as concerns taxation and monetary issues, and
trade with other countries. If farmers' economic rights are not respected, this
inevitably has adverse effects on market mechanisms and the whole economy.

The Responsibility of International Organizations

58. As an instrument of a developing agriculture, agrarian reform directly
touches on the spheres of competence and responsibility of many international
organizations. When these organizations define the development models they
intend to promote, they must take care that such models are suited to the needs
and problems of the various countries.

It is therefore important to make sure that concern for reducing
international debt  often translated into the promotion of a predominantly
export-oriented agriculture  does not lead developing countries to pursue
policies that will cause serious deterioration in public services, especially
education, and an increase in social problems.

59. Agrarian reform requires those organizations responsible for promoting
international trade to pay special attention to relations among commercial
policies, income distribution and the satisfaction of families' basic needs.

Development of trade usually has a positive effect on a country's economic
growth, by expanding the market, stimulating efficiency, and producing new
skills and know-how.

However, in certain situations it can also have detrimental effects on the
living conditions of the economically disadvantaged. This happens, for example,
if the increase in the production of foodstuffs for export leads to a reduction
in the supply of food for domestic consumption and an increase in its price.
This has a negative effect because the products exported are less
labour-intensive than those consumed locally, with the result that employment is
penalized.

It can happen that small farmers be penalized on two fronts. In the first
place, the obstacles they run up against prevent their access to the necessary
inputs to grow export crops, so that they cannot benefit from their advantages.
In the second place, the development of exports brings about rises in certain
costs of agricultural production and in the price of land, and such increases
make the production of traditional crops less financially viable.

However, this series of effects is not due exclusively to the logic of
commercial exchanges. They are also the direct result of a concentration of land
in a few hands, of a widespread social inequality, and of the inadequacy of
technico-administrative assistance services for small producers. International
organizations obviously have to keep the overall situation carefully in mind
when drawing up their own intervention strategies, because of its negative
consequences on the fight against poverty and hunger.

CONCLUSION

60. The Church is preparing for the new millennium through a process of
spiritual conversion that has its central inspiration in the Great Jubilee of
the Year 2000. This exceptional ecclesial event should prompt all Christians to
make a serious examination of conscience on their witness in the present and
also to a fuller awareness of the sins of the past, "recalling those times
in history when [Christians] ... indulged in ways of thinking and acting which
were truly forms of counter-witness and scandal."(53)

In treating the subject of an equitable redistribution of land, central to
the jubilee tradition in the Bible, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
wants to focus the attention of all on one of the most squalid and painful
spectacles  that of the shared responsibility, including that of many
Christians, for grave forms of injustice and exclusion, and the acquiescence of
too many of them in the violation of fundamental human rights.(54)

61. In many contexts, acquiescence in evil, which is a troubling sign of
spiritual and moral degeneration not for Christians alone, is producing a
disturbing cultural and political void which makes people incapable of change
and renewal. While social relations are not changing, and justice and solidarity
remain absent and invisible, the doors of the future are closing, and the
destiny of many peoples remain locked into an increasingly uncertain and
precarious present.

The spirit of the Jubilee urges us to cry "Enough!" to the many
individual and collective sins that bring about intolerable situations of dire
poverty and injustice. By calling attention to the special and essential
significance of justice in the biblical message  that of protection of the
weak and of their right, as children of God, to the wealth of creation  we
strongly hope that, as in the biblical experience, the jubilee year will help us
today to restore social justice through a distribution of land ownership carried
out in a spirit of solidarity in social relations.

62. The light of Christ  image of the invisible God whose fatherly
heart urges him to go in search of all persons, his cherished possession 
gives us strength and throws light on our difficult path.(55)

A deeper understanding and reasoned application of the guidelines of the
Church will be of practical help to all humanity in creating the conditions for
rejoicing in the salvation to which they are called by God's grace, and in
addressing a great prayer of thanksgiving and praise to God.

Let us invoke the intercession of Mary, Mother of our Redeemer, and the Star
who is a sure guide for the steps of all Christians who abandon the erroneous
paths of evil and obey the promptings of the Spirit, who is leading them toward
the Lord, so that they can share in the intimate life of God and be able to call
him "Abba! Father!" (Gal 4:6).

(2) The meaning of latifundia in this document is large land holdings, often
belonging to absentee owners where the land is worked by hired labour, using
out-dated farming techniques. The resources of the land are also generally
under-utilised.

(4) This form of organization of the agricultural sector seems to be on the
decline only where agrarian reforms have been implemented.

(5) The following types of distortion deserve particular mention:

a) the constitution of reservations for indigenous populations,
often in relatively unfertile areas, far from markets or poor in
infrastructures; members of such groups were banned from purchasing, or even
occupying, land outside these reservations;

b) the adoption of differentiated fiscal systems to the advantage of
large landowners, and the imposition of discriminatory taxes on the produce of
small indigenous farmers;

c) the establishment of market organizations and the adoption of
pricing systems that work in favour of the produce of large estates, in some
cases going so far as to ban the purchase of small farmers' produce;

d) the imposition of import barriers in order to protect the produce
of large landholdings from international competition;

e) the provision of public services and subsidies from which only
large landholdings could, in actual practice, benefit.

(6) The term "small farmer" refers, in this document, to an
economic subject who operates on the margins of agricultural production and is
involved in the process of fragmentation of land-holdings. This process is a
counter-image and consequence of that of the concentration and misappropriation
of land.

(8) On the various factors involved in such failure, see: FAO, Lessons
from the Green Revolution Towards a New Green Revolution, Rome 1995, p. 8.

(9) For an analysis of these policies in support of agricultural exports and
large-scale commercial farming, and their effects on poverty, see: World Bank,
World Development Report 1990, Washington, D.C., pp. 58-60; World Bank,
World Development Report 1991, Washington, D.C., p. 57.

(11) On the close interconnection in most traditional agrarian economies
between land ownership, access to credit and distribution of wealth, see: World
Bank, World Development Report 1991, pp. 65-66.

(12) There is more or less unanimous agreement on the very negative effort
of shortcomings in agricultural training services on the poverty of the
agricultural sector in many developing countries. See, for example: World Bank,
World Development Report 1991, pp. 73-75.

(13) Cf. UNDP, World Human Development Report 1990, New York.

(14) Cf. John Paul II, Address to the World Food Summit organised by FAO,
13-17 November 1996, L'Ossservatore Romano, English ed., 20 November
1996; FAO, Rome Declaration on World Food Security and World Food Summit
Plan of Action, Rome 1996; Pontifical Council Cor Unum, World Hunger, A
Challenge for All: Development in Solidarity, Vatican City 1996; FAO, Dimensions
of Need: An Atlas of Food and Agriculture, Rome 1995, p. 16; World Bank,
Poverty andHunger, Washington, D.C., 1986.

(15) On relationships between concentration of landholdings, rural poverty
and environmental degradation, see: World Bank, World Development Report
1990, pp. 71-73; World Bank, World Development Report 1992, Washington,
D.C., pp. 134-138, 149-153; FAO, Sustainable Development and the
Environment, FAO Policies and Actions, Rome 1992.

(19) Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra, 1961, no.
69. In his Radio Message for Pentecost 1941, Pius XII spoke of the right
to material goods: "Every man, as a living being endowed with the power of
reason, has by nature the fundamental right to use the material goods of the
earth, although it is left to human will and the specific legislation of
different peoples to control the details of its practical implementation. This
individual right cannot be in any way suppressed, even by other certain and
undisputed rights over material goods": no. 13.

(20) This is a natural right because, according to the magisterium of the
Church, it is based on the special nature of human work and the "ontological
and finalistic priority of individual human beings as compared with society":
John XXIII, Mater et Magistra, no. 96.

(21) "And to be able through his work to make these resources bear
fruit, man takes over ownership of small parts of the various riches of nature:
those beneath the ground, those in the sea, on land, or in space. He takes all
these things over by making them his workbench. He takes them over through work
and for work": John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 1991,
no. 12.

(22) Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Gaudium et Spes, no. 71.

(23) John XXIII, Mater et Magistra, no. 96.

(24) "Christian tradition has never upheld this right as absolute and
untouchable. On the contrary, it has always understood this right within the
broader context of the right common to all to use the goods of the whole of
creation: the right to private property is subordinated to the right to common
use, to the fact that goods are meant for everyone": John Paul II, Laborem
Exercens, no. 14.

(25) Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Gaudium et Spes, no. 69.

(26) Ibid.

(27) Cf. Summa theologiae, II-II, q. 66, art. 7.

(28) Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 1967, no. 23.

(29) Ownership of the means of production in the agricultural sector "is
just and legitimate if it serves useful work. It becomes illegitimate, however,
when it is not utilized or when it serves to impede the work of others, in an
effort to gain a profit which is not the result of the overall expansion of work
and the wealth of society, but rather is the result of curbing them or of
illicit exploitation, speculation or the breaking of solidarity among working
people. Ownership of this kind has no justification and represents an abuse in
the sight of God and man": John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus
Annus, 1991, no. 43.

(30) Degradation of the material environment basically leads to degradation
of "the human framework

(31) John Paul II, Laborem Exercens, no. 19.

(32) Ibid., no. 21.

(33) John Paul II, Address to the Indios and Peasants of Mexico, Cuilapan-Oaxaca,
29 January 1979. The Holy Father John Paul II has spoken out on several
occasions on the subject of agrarian reform: at Recife, Brazil, on 7 July 1980;
at Cuzco, Peru, on 3 February 1985; at Iquitos, Peru, on 5 February 1985; at
Lucutanga, Ecuador, on 31 January 1985; at Quito, Ecuador, on 30 January 1985;
in his address to the Brazilian Bishops on their ad limina visit on 24
March 1990; at Aterro do Bacanga, São Luís, Brazil, on 14 October
1991; in his address to the Brazilian Bishops on their ad limina
visit on 21 March 1995.

(35) "If certain landed estates impede the general prosperity because
they are extensive, unused or poorly used, or because they bring hardship to
peoples or are detrimental to the interests of the country, the common good
sometimes demands their expropriation": Paul VI, Populorum Progressio,
no. 24. "Reforms are called for: ... estates insufficiently cultivated
must even be divided up and given to those who will be able to make them
productive": Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Gaudium et Spes, no.
71.

(39) Public authorities cannot arbitrarily use their right to define the
duties of ownership if this violates the natural right to private property and
its transmission by inheritance, and cannot "burden private property with
such exorbitant taxes as to impoverish it": Pius XI, Encyclical Letter Quadragesimo
Anno, 1931, no. 49.

(40) John XXIII, Mater et Magistra, no. 128.

(41) "But if we hold to a human and Christian concept of man and the
family, we are forced to consider as an ideal that community of persons
operating on internal relations and whose structure is formed according to the
demands of justice and the principles stated above, and still more, enterprises
of family size. With these in mind we should exert every effort to realize one
or the other, as far as circumstances permit": ibid.

(42) "In economically less developed societies it often happens that
the common destination of goods is partly achieved by a system of community
customs and traditions which guarantee a minimum of necessities to each one":
Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Gaudium et Spes, no. 69.

(43) Cf. ibid.

(44) "... it is the State that must conduct a just labour policy":
John Paul II, Laborem Exercens, no. 17.

(45) The State has a duty to "act against unemployment, which in all
cases is an evil, and which, when it reaches a certain level, can become a real
social disaster": ibid., no. 18. With a view to making employment
possible for all, the State must promote a proper organization of work through "a
just and rational co-ordination, within the framework of which the initiative of
individuals, free groups and local work centres and complexes must be
safeguarded, keeping in mind what has been said above with regard to the subject
character of human labour": ibid.

(46) Remuneration for work performed is just if, besides wages, the worker
receives "various social benefits intended to ensure the life and health of
workers and their families": ibid., no. 19.

(47) "The experience of history teaches that ... even if it is because
of their work needs that people unite to secure their rights, their union
remains a constructive factor of social order and solidarity, and it is
impossible to ignore it": ibid., no. 20.

(48) John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, no. 32.

(49) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Gaudium et Spes, no. 69.

(50) On the important position of women in the production and processing of
agricultural production in developing countries, see: FAO, Overall
Socio-Political and Economic Environment for Food Security, Rome
1996, para 4.3.

(51) Cf. John Paul II, Letter to Women, 29 June 1995.

(52) However, the advantages of common ownership should not be
underestimated, especially in the case of a relatively large population as
compared with the amount of available land. In this case, common ownership
guarantees access to land for all the members of the community, even the
poorest; it encourages peasant farmers to preserve the productive capacity of
the soil they till; and, unlike what very often happens in the case of
individual ownership, it means that small farmers cannot be forced to sell their
very modest plots of land. In other words, common ownership helps to avoid
extreme poverty and the creation of a mass of landless people such as those
often found in areas dominated by latifundia.